01 Sep ADIOS TO REPORTING SEASON; WE LOVE OUR PETS TO DEATH
ADIOS TO REPORTING SEASON
And with winter over, another reporting season is done and dusted. The final batch of ASX listed companies reported their financial results on August 31.
One of the highlights was Harvey Norman, which reported a drop in 33.5 per cent in net profit due to rising costs, falling consumer confidence and cooler than usual temperatures on the East Coast, which led to a fall in sales of air conditioning units, outdoor furniture and barbeques.
While there were a raft of companies like Harvey Norman that were scheduled to report yesterday, it is the unscheduled post trade financial results that some journalists keep a keen eye out hoping for some ugly financial losses to write about.
WE LOVE OUR PETS TO DEATH
Cannings’ erstwhile CEO Luis M Garcia has observed in an opinion article in the Sydney Morning Herald how financial reporting season is a good indicator of how Australian households are coping with inflation, skyrocketing energy charges and rising interest rates.
This reporting season showed that we are cremating more of our recently departed furry friends and have cut back on luxury hampers and aged balsamic.
THE SICKEST DAY
The former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke famously said any boss who sacked their workers for taking a sick day after Australia won the America’s Cup was “a bum”.
The current PM Anthony Albanese recently talked up the idea of a public holiday if the Matildas won the FIFA World Cup.
Now it seems the connection between large sporting events and sickies is an international phenomenon. In the US, a survey by leave management software company Flamingo found that August 24 is the day most workers call in sick. In second place is February 13, which usually falls after the Super Bowl.
CAN YOU EVER HAVE TOO MUCH WINE?
Sacrébleu! We seem to be losing our thirst for French wine.
The French Government plans to spend €200 million ($330 million) destroying this year’s surplus of wine of as much as 300 million litres “to stop the collapse of prices”.
Some press reports said this is enough to fill 100 Olympic-size swimming pools, which is timely given the Paris Olympics are less than a year away.
Feel free to share these updates with colleagues or friends. They can sign up here to receive our daily newsletter.